Using data collected from The Health Improvement Network from 1986 to 2012 — the largest electronic medical records database in the world — researchers found that a person’s risk for developing depression was 63% higher during the first year that acne appears.

But the depression symptoms evident in the acne-prone patients only lasted for five years after their initial onset, the study found.

"This study highlights an important link between skin disease and mental illness," the paper's lead author, Dr. Isabelle Vallerand, told Science Daily. "Given the risk of depression was highest in the period right after the first time a patient presented to a physician for acne concerns, it shows just how impactful our skin can be towards our overall mental health."

It is vital, then, that doctors monitor the moods of their patients with acne and follow up with appropriate treatment and therapies for depression, and seek the opinion and consultation of a psychiatrist if needed, the researchers stressed.

"For these patients with acne, it is more than a skin blemish," Vallerand said. "It can impose significant mental health concerns and should be taken seriously."